# Best Ipod Touch or Iphone Ebook reader? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 19, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039 "2012-01-19T18:17:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039/1 "2012-01-19T18:17:21Z")
I have an Ipod touch and want a good Ebook reader. Requirements(desires, anyway) are: 1. It allows storage of the ebooks on the Ipod itself. No online connection required to read them. I guess this is possible? Itunes must do the syncing with certain readers? Does this mean “books” will appear on the Itunes list of things that I can sync? 2. Can read the most kinds of ebook formats. 3. Free(though I’d pay 99 cents for a great one). Thanks for the advice! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039/2 "2012-01-19T18:58:17Z")
Oh, and I apologize if this belongs in another forum. Couldn’t decide between here and Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039/3 "2012-01-19T19:34:12Z")
If you mean something that does multiple formats, I’d say Stanza is the way to go. Use that with the Stanza or Calibre desktop programs to manage your books. (Google for information on this; there are tons of tutorials.) Apple makes iBooks but that only handles the ePub and PDF formats. Kindle only supports the Kindle Book format (AZW?) plus PDF and TXT. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039/4 "2012-01-19T20:01:22Z")
I find iBooks and the Kindle reader meet all of my ebook needs. Do you sync your iPhone with a computer? If so, you can store your library on there, and just sync the books you’re currently reading on your iPhone. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039/5 "2012-01-19T21:12:54Z")
Am I following the right directions? I’m using Kindle reader right now: 1. Plug it in. 2. Choose “kindle” under the file sharing apps. 3. Add the ebook you wish to use. Sync it and it will copy it over and it will be readable offline. I don’t see “Ibooks” in the “file sharing” part of Itunes, even though I installed it. How could I sync to it? I do not see “books” as kind of choice up top on Itunes. I see Apps, Music, Movies, TV Shows, Photos, Info. ---
**Author:** ![raspberry\_hunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@raspberry\_hunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raspberry_hunter)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039/6 "2012-01-19T21:19:20Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > If you mean something that does multiple formats, I’d say Stanza is the way to go. Use that with the Stanza or Calibre desktop programs to manage your books. (Google for information on this; there are tons of tutorials.) > > Apple makes iBooks but that only handles the ePub and PDF formats. Kindle only supports the Kindle Book format (AZW?) plus PDF and TXT. Only have a minute here so I can’t address your later question (if I haev time later I may try), but THIS. Stanza, stanza, stanza all the way. The only drawback of Stanza is that amazon bought them and I don’t think they’re going to do any more updates. WAH. No other iDevice reader I’ve used compares at all. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039/7 "2012-01-19T21:19:30Z")
Are you using iCloud? ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039/8 "2012-01-19T21:49:26Z")
Don’t restrict yourself to one reader. They all have different ebook stores that they work with, and the selection of titles isn’t the same. There’s no reason not to have several readers on your device - my ipod has Kindle, Google Books, eReader, iBooks, Ebook reader (that one’s not so good), Kobo and Stanza installed on it. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039/9 "2012-01-19T21:53:12Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > If you mean something that does multiple formats, I’d say Stanza is the way to go. Use that with the Stanza or Calibre desktop programs to manage your books. (Google for information on this; there are tons of tutorials.) > > Apple makes iBooks but that only handles the ePub and PDF formats. Kindle only supports the Kindle Book format (AZW?) plus PDF and TXT. Concur on Stanza - though I hadn’t heard that you could use Calibre with it. To be honest, I hadn’t _tried_ using it (I use it to manage ebooks for my Nook). How do you get the books to the iPod using Calibre? Wireless? Stanza has a nice interface with places like Project Gutenberg as well. Both B&N and Amazon have, as noted, apps for the handhelds and that can be the simplest way to handle purchased books. Once the book is downloaded, it’s there on your handheld. Though I should caveat that for B&N, I find that periodically, purchased books that I haven’t looked at in a while seem to require re-downloading before I can read them. And if my credit card expires, I can’t redownload them until I update it at the B&N site (no, they don’t _charge_ me again, I just have to have one on file). ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039/10 "2012-01-19T21:57:26Z")
I’m no genius on ebooks, but the iTunes store and iBooks meets my needs. Many classics are free. You can store the books on your phone/iPad/whatever or access them from the cloud. Books are tiny, so it shouldn’t be an issue to store them locally. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039/11 "2012-01-19T22:57:06Z")
I have quite a few of them and I like Stanza and Kindle the most. Stanza is snappy and has a nice user interface which manages to be simple and yet quite feature-packed. I like how you can change the brightness instantly by swiping the screen, for example. Surprising how often I use that. I hear it doesn’t work so well on iOS 5 though. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039/12 "2012-01-19T23:49:13Z")
Stanza is kicking butt. Why does Ibooks not appear on my file sharing list in Itunes? Is it different? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039/13 "2012-01-20T00:41:10Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I do not see “books” as kind of choice up top on Itunes. I see Apps, Music, Movies, TV Shows, Photos, Info. Huh. Looking at the panel when I’m sync’ing my iPhone (with “Devices: Ferret’s iPhone” selected in the left margin), along the top of the panel it says: Summary, Info, Apps, Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, Books, Photos. On the iPhone/iPod Touch itself, go to Settings, scroll down to the list of apps, pick iBooks, and see if “Sync Collections” is listed as on? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039/14 "2012-01-20T01:16:46Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Am I following the right directions? I’m using Kindle reader right now: > > 1. Plug it in. > > 2. Choose “kindle” under the file sharing apps. > > 3. Add the ebook you wish to use. Sync it and it will copy it over and it will be readable offline. > > I don’t see “Ibooks” in the “file sharing” part of Itunes, even though I installed it. How could I sync to it? > > I do not see “books” as kind of choice up top on Itunes. I see Apps, Music, Movies, TV Shows, Photos, Info. There are two kinds of file sharing: iOS file sharing, like you do with the iOS Kindle App > **[Use iTunes to share files between your computer and your iPhone or iPad -...](https://support.apple.com/en-us/120403)** > > You can copy files between your computer and apps on your iPhone or iPad using File Sharing. But also, for types of content that are recognized directly by iTunes, you do the “regular” file sharing like with music files. Books show up in an iTunes category if you have iTunes 10.3 or later. See here: [http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4629](http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4629) forgot to say: if you have epub or PDF files that you transferred to your computer from somewhere else (e.g. Project Gutenberg), and you want to read them using the iOS iBooks application, you can import them to iTunes using “File-\>Add to Library…”, the same way you would add an MP3 file. Then the e-books should show up in the iTunes Books category. Once they are in iTunes you can transfer them to your iOS device. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039/15 "2012-01-20T01:58:25Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > But also, for types of content that are recognized directly by iTunes, you do the “regular” file sharing like with music files. Books show up in an iTunes category if you have iTunes 10.3 or later. See here: > [http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4629](http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4629) I have Itunes 10.5, but don’t see Books as a menu, for some reason. I have Ibooks, too. Stanza and Kindle are working well. Does Ibooks do anything they don’t? ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039/16 "2012-01-20T02:49:52Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I have Itunes 10.5, but don’t see Books as a menu, for some reason. I have Ibooks, too. > > Stanza and Kindle are working well. Does Ibooks do anything they don’t? It’s not a menu item, it’s on the sidebar. And it won’t be there unless you add at least one book. Just drag a PDF or ePub file in and the category will show up. Stanza works well for now, but it was purchased by Amazon and [won’t be updated anymore.](http://www.tuaw.com/2011/11/10/stanza-ios-app-updated-but-amazon-is-abandoning-it/) ---
**Author:** ![merryflip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@merryflip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merryflip)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039/17 "2013-12-13T08:17:35Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I have an Ipod touch and want a good Ebook reader. Requirements(desires, anyway) are: > > 1. It allows storage of the ebooks on the Ipod itself. No online connection required to read them. I guess this is possible? Itunes must do the syncing with certain readers? Does this mean “books” will appear on the Itunes list of things that I can sync? > > 2. Can read the most kinds of ebook formats. > > 3. Free(though I’d pay 99 cents for a great one). > > well, you coudl also use some third-party software like **XFlip [ebook publishing software](http://www.xflip.com/) to create** and publish stunning ebook, e-catalogues, e-brochures and many more and view them on any computers, tablets, ebook readers or mobile devices. > > For Mac users, just go to download Kvisoft [flipbook program for mac](http://www.kvisoft.com/flipbook-maker-mac/) directly. > > Thanks for the advice! hi, Mahaloth, luckily, there’re many online or offline tools for your choice like Calibre software, just try to use one by one and find your desired one! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ipod-touch-or-iphone-ebook-reader/610039/18 "2013-12-19T04:31:40Z")
> [@merryflip](#): > > hi, Mahaloth, luckily, there’re many online or offline tools for your choice like Calibre software, just try to use one by one and find your desired one! Yeah, I’m good now. That was almost 2 years ago, dude. I use Kindle(the app) for 90% of my reading and use Stanza for anything Kindle won’t read. 🙂